By Jonathan Nelson

The House Public Health Committee took up several bills that would expand the scope of practice of nurse practitioners on a long day of business on Tuesday, April 25. The hearing had stretched into the evening before TAFP member Emily Briggs, MD, of New Braunfels was called to the podium to speak against House Bill 3395 by Rep. Four Price (R-Amarillo). The bill would grant nurse practitioners independent authority if they practice in a rural area that doesn’t currently have a physician.

“I’m a family physician in Comal County, which means I see patients in my office,” Briggs told the committee. “I also take care of them in the hospital, I deliver their babies, I take care of their babies after delivering them and I also take care of the rest of their family.”